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On This Day
May
23 May

On This Day: 23 May

Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians, while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne, and sold to the English Click to show or hide the answer
Girolamo Savonarola, priest and reformer, is strangled and burnt at the stake in Florence Click to show or hide the answer
Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon is annulled Click to show or hide the answer
Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War Click to show or hide the answer
Imperial agents are 'defenestrated' in Prague, leading to the Thirty Years' War Click to show or hide the answer
Captain William Kidd hanged for piracy and murder in London Click to show or hide the answer
Battle of Ramillies: Marlborough defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy Click to show or hide the answer
South Carolina ratifies the US Constitution, becoming the eighth state Click to show or hide the answer
Troops quell an uprising in Paris prompted by bread shortages Click to show or hide the answer
A merchant in Shiraz, calling himself Báb, declares himself a prophet, effectively founding the Bahái Faith Click to show or hide the answer
The General German Workers' Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig Click to show or hide the answer
The Canadian Parliament establishes the North–West Mounted Police – the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Click to show or hide the answer
The French crown jewels go on sale for 6,000,000 francs Click to show or hide the answer
The Associated Press News Service is founded in New York Click to show or hide the answer
Italy declares war on Austro–Hungary and joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London (signed four weeks earlier) Click to show or hide the answer
Whipsnade Zoo opens Click to show or hide the answer
Bonnie & Clyde are killed by police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana Click to show or hide the answer
The British Parliament agrees a plan for the independence of Palestine; denounced by both Arabs and Jews. George Cross inaugurated Click to show or hide the answer
Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, commits suicide while in Allied custody Click to show or hide the answer
Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister and dissolves the wartime coalition government Click to show or hide the answer
Britain's first post–war Jamaican immigrants leave Jamaica on the Empire Windrush Click to show or hide the answer
The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) Click to show or hide the answer
Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with China Click to show or hide the answer
Hungary beat England 7–1 in Budapest Click to show or hide the answer
Israel announces the capture of former Nazi chief Adolf Eichmann Click to show or hide the answer
French former general Raoul Salan weeps, smiles and then laughs with relief on being sentenced to life imprisonment (rather than execution) for leading the Secret Army Organisation (OAS) – an organisation violently opposed to Algerian independence, which has carried out a campaign of terrorism in France over the last few years Click to show or hide the answer
The UK Government declares a state of emergency, after a week of strike action by the National Union of Seamen has brought shipping to a standstill Click to show or hide the answer
The BBC commissions Monty Python's Flying Circus Click to show or hide the answer
South Moluccan terrorists take an estimated 50 hostages on a train in Groningen, north–east Holland, and 110 (105 children and five teachers) at a school in the town of Bovensmilde Click to show or hide the answer
Sixteen people are killed and dozens more injured in an explosion at a water treatment plant in Abbeystead, near Lancaster, as people from the nearby village of St. Michael's–on–Wyre are being shown around the plant Click to show or hide the answer
Jonathan Hunt, 6, handicapped by acute neonatal meningitis, wins "substantial" damages against The Sun which called him "The worst brat in Britain" Click to show or hide the answer
The first version of the Java programming language is released Click to show or hide the answer
Germany's Reichstag elects veteran Social Democrat Johannes Rau as president Click to show or hide the answer
Israeli troops withdraw from South Lebanon after 22 years of occupation Click to show or hide the answer
The Kyoto Protocol reaches its '55 parties' clause after its ratification by Iceland Click to show or hide the answer
Roy Keane sent home from the Republic of Ireland's World Cup training camp in Japan after repeatedly criticising the squad's preparations for the tournament which begins on 31 May Click to show or hide the answer
Five people killed when a new terminal building collapses at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris Click to show or hide the answer
The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington Click to show or hide the answer
22–year–old Elliot Rodger kills six people and injures fourteen others near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, before killing himself inside his vehicle Click to show or hide the answer
184 people are killed, and at least 200 injured, in eight bombings carried out by ISIS in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria Click to show or hide the answer

© Haydn Thompson 2019